Celebrating a special birthday with gifts for AU
Otis Willingham, left, with University Park UMC pastor Rev. Leighton Bearden.
University Park UMC, Dallas, recently recognized the 102nd birthday of longtime member Otis Willingham.
To mark the occasion, pastor Rev. Leighton Bearden challenged the congregation to contribute $102 to the Bishop's Initiative for Africa University (AU), one dollar for every year of his life.
On March 5, University Park pastors visited Willingham to deliver a birthday cake and a card listing the names of 50 well-wishers who had contributed a total of $5,109 in his honor to the AU initiative.
In addition, a matching gift of $5,000 brought the total gift for AU to $10,109. In her column for the UP newspaper, Communications Director Cheryl Brown wrote:
Today I was privileged to be asked to accompany Revs. Leighton Bearden, Rebecca Frank, Larry Ravert and Jeff McCormick to visit the home of Otis Willingham.
As many of you are aware, Mr. Willingham is celebrating his 102nd birthday. You may recall that last week, Leighton came up with the idea to commemorate this wonderful milestone by contributing $102 in Mr. Willingham’s honor to our Lenten Offering campaign supporting the Bishop's Initiative for Africa University. He encouraged others in the congregation to do the same.
You did, and today the ministers and I had the joyful duty of delivering a cake and large card full of contributors' names to Mr. Willingham.
Was he surprised? I think so. And as we sat munching cake swirled with raspberry filling, Mr. Willingham shared with us about his long, fruitful life: About how his family came to Texas, and about the job he had as a young man working at a farmer supply store. About his brother, who was a doctor at Parkland Hospital, and how when he visits his brother's grave, people still approach him to tell him what a wonderful guy his brother was.
Larry asked Mr. Willingham if he remembered who he voted for in his first presidential election. His memory didn't reach quite that far. But it very well could have been Calvin Coolidge, who beat out Democrat John W. Davis in 1924.
"You've certainly had a good life," Larry said, and Mr. Willingham agreed. "I surely have been blessed," he replied. And so have we.
For more information on innovative approaches to raise money for the Bishop's Campaign for Africa University, please call the NTC Communications Office, 972-526-5000, 800-969-8201, or e-mail:labarr@ntcumc.org.
